


The Stars Gaze Back

by kaynga



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Childhood Friends, FFXValentines, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, IgNoct, M/M, Mild Smut, Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 14:28:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13813113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaynga/pseuds/kaynga
Summary: Ignis and Noctis share all of their intimate moments under the stars.





	The Stars Gaze Back

**Author's Note:**

> This story comes to you in fifteen parts. Part nine in particular has NSFW content, and can be skipped if that’s not your cup of tea.
> 
> This is a belated FFXValentines gift for @d_talvi. I’m so sorry that this is late, and I hope you enjoy it!

I. The Book

The first time Ignis shows Noctis the stars, it’s through a pop-up book. Noctis is only five, and although he had been shy at first, he had slowly been starting to open up to Ignis through a calculated mixture of time, exposure, and sweets that Ignis’ uncle helped him prepare. Noctis is entranced by the sparkling foil on the cardboard pages, letting the light play over it in a way that seemed to make them shimmer.

“That’s the fist of the Archaean,” Ignis points out as Noctis holds a page open to a constellation in a shape that was a vague facsimile of a circle. “It’s not visible this time of year, but we should be able to see it come spring.”

Noctis wrinkles his nose. “Doesn’t look like a fist.”

“It’s rare that you’ll find a constellation true to its name,” Ignis says as he starts to turn the page, though in a childish gesture, Noctis lifts his hand and blocks the page from completing its journey. “It...Noct, if you don’t like it, wouldn’t you rather see the next one?”

A beat passes as Noctis squints at the paper, as though he could make the stars come to life in front of him by sheer force of will. “Maybe it’s better in real life,” Noctis reasons before he finally lets Ignis turn the page. “What’s this one?”

“That would be the Rod of the Fulgurian,” Ignis says as he runs his thumb along the text at the bottom of the page, reading it out loud for Noctis. “See how the stars run straight then curve, almost like a diamond shape?”

“Mm...I guess that’s a _little_ closer,” Noctis reluctantly agrees. “Can we see it?”

“Yes, it’s visible nearly year round, with some exceptions,” Ignis says as he turns to the next page. “And here we have the Waves of the Hydraean. See how the stars make a sort of criss-crossed pattern?”

“Wow,” Noctis says under his breath as he reaches out, touching the thin paper and lightly manipulating it in his hand to make the foil shimmer more clearly. Ignis is about to open his mouth to stop him just before the thin paper rips in two.

“Drat, Noct,” Ignis says as he inspects the damage, not noticing how Noctis’ hand is trembling a bit as he withdrew it. “I’m...sure it will be all right. Uncle can help me repair it, and-” Ignis stops dead when he glances over at Noctis, his eyes having filled with tears.

“I-I...I’m so sorry, Iggy, I didn’t…” Noctis raises his wrist up to wipe away the tears streaming down his cheeks. “It’s..your special book, and I…”

“Now, now,” Ignis says, a hint of awkwardness passing through him as he tried to puzzle out how to comfort Noctis, and he bites his bottom lip before he circles his thin arms around Noctis’ shoulders. “See? I’m not mad.”

Noctis hiccups. It’s cute, despite the circumstances, and it only makes Ignis hold him tighter. After a few moments, Noctis’ tears dry up, and he looks up at Ignis with a new sense of determination. “Can I help fix it? Please?”

Loosening his arms around Noctis, Ignis appraises his expression before he nods. “Okay. We can do it together tomorrow, okay? Then I can show you the rest.

Some light returns to Noctis’ blue eyes. Ignis treasures the sight of them.

 

II. The Runaways

The picture book is a short lived fascination, but it sparks a deep interest in Noctis that Ignis would have never expected. Noctis drags Ignis to the roof of the Citadel often in the hopes that they might see the stars in person, but Insomnia is just too brightly lit.

“This is annoying,” Noctis complains as he folds his arms over his chest, his head tilted up and to the side as he tried to make out a few dots of light peeking through the light pollution. “Isn’t there anywhere we can go?”

“We aren’t permitted outside of the Citadel,” Ignis says, before getting a deadpan look from Noctis. “Well… _you_ aren’t permitted to leave the Citadel. Not yet, in any case.”

“I start school in like two months,” Noctis murmurs in discontent. “I’m gonna have to go out sometime. Why’s dad gotta be so overprotective?”

Ignis pauses for a second, thinking of something he had overheard King Regis tell his uncle one day. “...I think he just wants to protect you, Noct,” Ignis explains as he reaches out to lightly grab Noctis’ wrist in a comforting gesture. “Have you begun training with that other boy? Gladiolus?”

Noctis looks repulsed from the name alone. “All he does it beat me up.”

“Well, that’s...perhaps not his job exactly, but it does prove the King’s point. You need to learn how to defend yourself before you wander the city.”

“It’s just not fair,” Noctis murmurs as he sits down on the floor of the rooftop, crossing his legs as he stares up at the sky. “How long do I have to wait?”

Ignis considers Noctis’ question. And, as if bidden by his thoughts, he remembers a place his uncle had taken him during his first few years in Insomnia.

“...Noct, I think I know how I can help.”

Noctis’ expression brightens. “What? Do you think you can talk dad into it?”

“No, however...your father has asked me to care for you, and letting you be miserable would be doing a bad job.”

“But...won’t we get in trouble?”

“No, ‘we’ won’t,” Ignis says decisively before offering Noctis his hand. “Come along. I’ll show you some real stars.

Noctis grins from ear to ear before he takes Ignis’ hand, happily bounding off with him into the unknown.

 

 

III. A Constellation of their Own

Noctis is in awe as he lies next to Ignis on the blanket he had brought with them. There was a small park with a hill near the outskirts of Insomnia, and the stars, while not perfectly bright, were at least visible. It isn’t long before Noctis is pointing out constellations they had both seen in Ignis’ book. The sheet interest and adoration in Noctis’ eyes makes any potential punishment worth it to Ignis.

“What’s that one?”

“Hm?” Ignis hums as he looks at Noctis before he follows to where he was pointing, at a small gathering of stars in a straight line, with a stray star set off to the side near the two at the top. “Oh. That’s the Veil of the Glacian.”

“It’s a veil?” Noctis furrows his tiny brow skeptically. “Looks like...a weird line. With a pointy bit.”

“The ‘pointy bit’ isn’t actually part of the constellation. Only the line of stars. Though many travellers use this constellation to know where they’re headed.”

Noctis is quiet for a few moments as he considers the shape once again. “You know...kind looks more like chocobo head. Like a thin one, but…”

Ignis laughs softly. “A chocobo head?”

“Yeah! Don’t you see it?

Ignis gives the constellation another once over, and although he can see what Noctis is getting at, he isn’t quite sure he agrees. “Fascinating, if not a little sacrilegious.”

Noctis turns to look at Ignis as though he had just made up a word on the spot. Ignis can’t keep from laughing again. Later, when they would return to the Citadel, they met with a very angry guard. Ignis takes all the blame, and Noctis is ushered off to bed. When Ignis returns to his uncle’s apartment that night, he can’t help looking out his window. Outside, clear as day, is the chocobo head. The thought does something funny to his chest.

 

IV. Healing Together

It’s a few years before Ignis is able to see the stars again with Noctis. Noctis isn’t quite the same. He’s quieter, and he has a limp from what had been done to his knee. There was something else - something deeper - but Ignis hadn’t been able to put together what it was.

“Noct,” Ignis says as he turns his head on the blanket to look at Noctis. “Is it like you remember? The constellations?”

Noctis hums in agreement. The silence that passes between them is deafening.

“You know I’ve...been really worried.”

“Sorry.”

“No, I...I don’t want you to be sorry, I just...want to help, if I can.”

Noctis looks away from the sky and into the distance. “Did...they tell you what happened? When we left Tenebrae?”

“I heard that Imperials had raided, and that your father carried you to safety,” Ignis recounts, pausing for a moment before he continues. “The oracle and her brother were captured too, right?”

Noctis looks to be on the verge of bottling up his reaction, but the words spill out anyway. “Dad had Luna with us, but she just...she let go. She wouldn’t come, and I couldn’t do anything to save her.” His tears are coming in earnest now. “If I’m the chosen one...why couldn’t she trust me to protect her?”

“Noct…” Ignis says as he turns toward Noctis, offering him the solace of his arms. Noctis hesitates only briefly before he takes shelter in them, his tear dripping onto his sweater vest. “It’s not your fault. From the way it sounds, she made a choice independent of that.”

“B-But...what are they going to do to her?”

Ignis swallows. “I...don’t know, Noct. I can tell you that they won’t harm her, as having the oracle in their possession makes her a valuable hostage.”

Noctis rolls his eyes before he rolls away back onto his stomach. “Yeah, that’s what I want to hear.”

An awkward silence passes. Ignis feels woefully unequipped to handle Noctis’ feelings. “I apologize, I...have no idea what you must be going through.”

Noctis lets out a sigh as he lightly brushes back his bangs from his face. “It’s...not your fault,” he says. “I’m sorry, it’s just...new. I’ve never felt so afraid for someone before.”

“You should talk to your father. Surely he would know more about her situation than anyone else.”

Noctis shakes his head. “No, I...I think he blames himself. I don’t want to make it worse on him.”

“The council might know as well,” Ignis suggests.

“They would just blab to dad the moment I left,” Noctis murmurs as he reaches out to play with some of the blades of grass behind the edge of the blanket. “I just...can’t trust anyone. Except you.”

Ignis feels a tightening in his chest that is slowly growing to be familiar. “Then why don’t I try to see what I can learn?”

Noctis looks up at Ignis expectantly. “You would do that?”

“Of course,” Ignis says, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Anything you need.”

 

V. The Rift

Despite his best efforts, Ignis isn’t able to find out much more about Lunafreya’s whereabouts. Noctis doesn’t say anything, but Ignis knows that he’s disappointed. Life goes on, and they don’t visit the stars again until the day before Noctis begins his first year of high school.

“Hey Iggy,” Noctis says evenly as he approaches Ignis, sitting down on the familiar blanket next to him. “You think the Archaean’s Fist is visible yet?”

“Most likely. I believe it’s among those,” Ignis pauses to point at the sky, “but it’s been some time since I looked at that book.”

“You still have that thing?”

“Of course,” Ignis says as he gives Noctis an amused smile. “After all the glue you used to fix the pages, I couldn’t part with it.”

Noctis groans as he settles back to lie down. “You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

“It’s an endearing anecdote about my prince,” Ignis teases. “What else am I to do with it?”

“Throw it away. Buy a new one. I dunno,” Noctis shrugs as he crossed his arms behind his head to use as a pillow. “Did you see the place dad picked out for me? That apartment downtown?”

Ignis hesitates for a moment before nodding. “Yes. It seems quite nice.”

“That...doesn’t sound all that convincing, Specs.”

“It’s...strange to think of you anywhere but the Citadel,” Ignis admits. “I worry for your safety.”

“C’mon, I can almost stand up to Gladio these days,” Noctis says as he lightly bumps his shoe against Ignis’. “I mean...at least for the first few hits.”

Ignis exhales his amusement. “You’re a prince that effortlessly inspires confidence.”

“Hey, shut it,” Noctis says, though he’s grinning despite himself. “I won’t be that far from your Uncle’s, and there’s a security guard, and don’t get me started about-”

Noctis’ words are cut off by the sound of a dog barking. He sits up, startled, as though the bark was somehow familiar.

“Iggy, wait here,” Noctis says as he gets up, turning in the direction of barking and running at a hurried pace.

“Noct, wait-” Ignis starts before Noctis is too far to be stopped. Although they rarely had to worry about dangerous wildlife in Insomnia, he isn’t about to let Noctis run off and chance a fight with a feral dog, so he hurriedly gets up and runs after him.

When Ignis catches up, Noctis is on his knees. There’s no dog to be seen - but there is a notebook in his hands. It takes only a second before Ignis is able to tell that Noctis is crying.

“It’s...it’s her,” Noctis says as he swipes the back of his hand with his wrist. “She said we would write, and...here it is.”

Noctis opens the page to see a blue sylleblossom pressed into the pages, confirming his suspicions. He then holds the book tightly to his chest as a relieved sob escapes him. Ignis is taken aback, uncertain what the uncomfortable churning in his stomach is at the sight of Noctis being so emotional - and he begins to wonder if what had been happening between them was his imagination.

Moving to Noctis’ side to comfort him, Ignis does his best to drown out the unpleasant feeling in his chest. Whatever it is, he isn’t keen on feeling it again.

 

VI. Closing In

Ignis grows distant. Noctis isn’t sure why. It takes a long while and many invitations before Ignis reluctantly agrees to meet Noctis under the stars once more. By then, Ignis feels relatively certain that he’s over his feelings - until Noctis takes the chance to jump on them, figuratively speaking.

“You’ve been acting so weird,” Noctis says as he sits next to Ignis on the blanket. “It seems like...ever since I got that book, you’ve been super distant.”

Ignis is silent for a few moments. “That has nothing to do with it,” he finally says.

“So, there is a reason?”

“In some form, yes.”

Noctis gives Ignis a slightly frustrated look for his unwillingness to talk. “C’mon, Iggy. I tell you everything. Don’t you trust me?”

“Noct, of course I do, but I’m just not - I’m not ready,” Ignis admits, leaving Noctis quiet and perplexed. It’s their shortest stargazing session ever. When they finish, Noctis watches as Ignis folds up the blanket, feeling lost.

 

VII. Escalation

By the next time they are under the stars together again, Ignis had discovered what true and honest mortification is.

Noctis is late to arrive, and Ignis’ heart is pounding hard enough that he can feel it in his ears.

“Iggy?” Noctis asks tentatively as he steps up to the blanket, carefully taking a seat onto it a few feet away from Ignis. “You...ready to talk?”

“Talk?” Ignis asks, playing ignorant.

Noctis doesn’t buy it. “You know what I mean.”

“It was an accident. It won’t ever happen again.”

“An...accident?” Noctis asks, and the hurt evident in his voice makes Ignis regret his words immediately.

“I...no, not an accident, but…” Ignis trails off helplessly. “Noct, we can’t do this.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re a prince, and I’m to be your retainer. Even if it was appropriate behavior, which it most certainly isn’t, you have to take a wife and create an heir someday. That...isn’t something I can do for you.”

“Who says I have to?” Noctis insists as he scooches just a bit closer to Ignis. “I gotta pass on the bloodline, yeah, but...there’s other ways.”

Ignis frowns. “It’s...not that simple. The people - _your_ people - might not like it. You have a legacy to uphold.”

“So my legacy is to do whatever other people want?” Noctis says, his tone an inch from losing some part of his temper. “I hate it. I don’t want to be some chosen one. Fuck, I don’t even want to be prince if it means dad has to die, and…” Noctis swallows hard before he looks back up at Ignis. “I can’t pretend that...you didn’t…”

“...but I shouldn’t have,” Ignis says, his defenses slowly starting to crumble at the way Noctis was inching forward.

“You wanted to. I wanted you to. What else do we need?”

“Noct…”

“Iggy,” Noctis says before he closes the distance between them, kissing Ignis’ lips for the second time that day. It’s clumsy and unfamiliar territory for both of them, but they navigate it together, with only the stars watching them.

 

VIII. Love

They hold hands the next time they go stargazing. Lying side by side, Noctis rattles off the names of the constellations he remembers. Ignis only faintly hears him. He’s too caught up in the evening - one that had been filled with dinner, a film, and a walk through a secluded garden - before they had arrived at their spot. Ignis had been about to tell Noctis that he hadn’t remembered the blanket, but Noctis pulled out one of his own from his backpack before he got the words out. All in all, his prince could be romantic.

“Oh! There it is,” Noctis says as he points up.

“Hm?”

“The Chocobo Head,” Noctis says, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Remember?”

“How could I forget?” Ignis says with a hint of dramatic flair. “You profaned a heavenly constellation with your inventive imagination. Of course I remember.”

Noctis laughs softly as he turns on his side, cuddling up to Ignis, their close proximity allowing him to hear Ignis’ heart. It’s beating like mad. “Are you...nervous?” Noctis asks after a few moments.

“...nervous seems a bit much for the way I feel.”

“Then what is it?”

Ignis pauses as he considers his words. “...excitement, and disbelief, if I’m being honest,” Ignis admitted as he lightly stroked Noctis’ side. “I’ve never been on a date before.”

“Ditto,” Noctis says as he leaned up to kiss Ignis’ chin. “But did you have fun?”

“Of course,” Ignis says as he lowers his head just enough to look Noctis in the eye. “Didn’t you?”

“Kiss me and find out”

Ignis does.

 

IX. Lust

“Noct, I...there’s no way,” Ignis says as Noctis sits in his lap, his face flushed and his lips swollen from the amount of kissing they had been doing. “We might be seen.”

Noctis let out a soft, almost airy laugh. “Iggy, we’ve been coming here for years and no one has ever passed by. Weren’t you telling me that you wanted to try it outside once?”

“That was a fantasy shared in confidence…”

“And didn’t you say we would do it more often after I graduated?” Noctis continues to probe. 

Ignis lets out a sigh that sounds more annoyed than he is. “But if we get caught…”

“We won’t get caught,” Noctis reassures as he runs kisses down Ignis’ neck, his hands lowering to undo the bindings of Ignis’ trousers. Ignis lets him, even if he’s nervous, exposing him to the crisp, chilled air around them.

“You’re...positive?”

“Yes,” Noctis says before he looks back up to kiss Ignis in silent promise. “Is it okay if I keep going?”

Ignis swallows, nervousness and excitement welling up before he nods. And when Noctis knelt down to swallow his arousal, all thought left his mind altogether.

After, Ignis rests against the blanket, and Noctis curls up against him wearing only his button up shirt and his boxer briefs. What they had done had only required Ignis to unzip, since Noctis had wanted Ignis to be as comfortable as possible, but Noctis had required much more disrobing than that.

“You’re amazing,” Noctis murmurs softly, the afterglow heavy in his tone.

“Would it be glib of me to say that you are the amazing one?” Ignis asks, satisfied amusement in his tone.

“Yeah,” Noctis says as he squeezes his leg around Ignis’. “Did you enjoy it?”

“It was...phenomenal, but that had more to do with you than the great outdoors.”

“Oh?” Noctis says as he carefully clambors up to straddle Ignis’ lap. “It didn’t turn you on even a little that we were doing it here, all alone, with nothing but the stars watching us?”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

“Shut up,” Noctis murmurs affectionately before he kisses Ignis again, setting everything in motion for an encore performance.

 

X. Betrothed

Ignis returns to their spot alone the day after Noctis’ engagement was announced. He had been there to support Noctis as much as possible, but he desperately needed time to himself to process the whole of it. He knew it would be inevitable - that Noctis couldn’t possibly stay with him forever - but somehow, their years of private dates and even more private trysts had given him some...misplaced hope.

For almost an hour, Ignis has the place to himself, until he hears familiar footsteps near the brush. Noctis approaches, and Ignis feels his heart hammer painfully in his chest.

“Is it...okay if I come over?” Noctis asks at the threshold of the blanket.

“Of course,” Ignis says, even if his tone indicates that he isn’t sure that he’s ready for this conversation. 

“I thought about it a lot, and…” Noctis settles down in front of Ignis, reaching out to take his hands. “You know I love you. I always will. But...dad thinks this is the only way to end the war.”

“I’m aware.”

“And you know I don’t want to, right?”

Ignis pauses, his memories moving back to the red book that had carried Noctis’ messages to Luna for years.

“...Iggy?” Noctis asks softly, nervousness evident in his tone.

“Do you love her?” Ignis asks simply as he lifts his gaze to meet Noctis’.

For a moment, Noctis looks like he was physically struck, but he manages to rein in on the feeling after a moment. “That’s...not fair. After...everything between us, do you really think…?”

“Noct, I...you misunderstand me,” Ignis says as he squeezes Noctis’ hands in his own. “You can love more than one people at the same time. And I know it’s been years since you last met, but you’ve kept in constant contact. If...you were in love with her...it would be a comfort in an ill fitting situation.”

Noctis is silent for a long while. A telling while. And Ignis finally lets out a breath before he nods.

“I believed so,” Ignis says softly. “At least...we have that.”

“‘We have that’?” Noctis asks in disbelief. “Why...aren’t you mad? How can you be okay with this?”

“Of course I’m not ‘okay’ with it,” Ignis says somewhat shortly, though he regrets his tone immediately. “I apologize, I...the fact of the matter is that this was going to happen, and I had accepted that long ago.”

“But I told you that…”

“Noct, stop,” Ignis implores softly, his green eyes looking somewhat lost as he leaned forward to press a tender, lingering kiss to Noctis’ lips. “I’ll never regret a moment of ‘us’, no matter how much it hurts. But we have to accept this for what it is.”

Noctis’ eyes begin to glaze over with moisture, his chest heaving as he took in a breath. “...until Altissia...can we still be…?” Noctis isn’t able to finish.

Ignis pauses for a long while before he nods. “Until Altissia.”

 

 

XI. The First Night

Camping with Prompto and Gladiolus isn’t the nightmare Ignis thought it would be. Gladiolus does a fantastic job with the campsite, and even if Ignis found Prompto’s sense of humor a little grating sometimes, he couldn’t help feeling a certain fondness towards him. He could easily see why he and Noctis were so close.

Noctis invites Ignis out to rest with him on a cliff near the campsite, and Ignis obliges, taking along their by now familiar blanket. He makes a somewhat displeased face at the realization that they had little more than sandy earth to place it on, but Ignis supposes he’ll get used to having to launder most of their possessions as often as humanly possible.

“It’s strange,” Noctis says as he rests his head against Ignis’ shoulder. “I’ve wanted to leave Insomnia for years, but I had no idea it was so...empty out here.”

“Surely you paid some attention in your geography class,” Ignis says as he brushes his thumb along the back of Noctis’ hand. “Most landmarks outside of Insomnia are few and far between.”

“Yeah, but you don’t really get it until you see it,” Noctis insists as he stares up at the sky. “...but at least the stars are so much clearer.”

“Ah, glass half-full - I like it,” Ignis says with a warmth that was close to teasing.

“What, you don’t think so?” Noctis says as he reaches up to point. “C’mon, there’s so many more than you can see even on that hill back home.”

“That’s true,” Ignis relents as he looks up. “It’s a pity we can only enjoy them for such a limited time.”

A silence passes.

“When the war is over...we can travel outside of Insomnia whenever we want,” Noctis says, a suggestion of something else in his voice.

Ignis frowns. “I won’t let you sully our relationship with Lady Lunafreya like that.”

“No, of course not, but...I mean, maybe she’d be into it?”

Ignis gives Noctis a deadpan look. “Are you joking?”

“Uhh...kinda? Maybe? I was just putting it out there.”

“Well, put it back,” Ignis insists, though there was no heat in his tone. “One day at a time, love. I can’t...entertain such thoughts, not knowing if they will come to pass.”

Noctis lets out a sigh. “Fine. You’re right.”

 

 

XII. Insomnia Falls

Noctis is incolsable. Internally, Ignis is as well. They had lost everything - their home, their families, everything short of their lives. Nothing seems to help Noctis, who clams up even from the slightest touch, and it takes weeks before he’s willing to join Ignis on a late-night rendezvous under the stars.

Ignis had cooked pastries that night for dinner, though the recipe still wasn’t quite right, and they decide to share them as they spend time together in not quite comfortable silence, on their blanket on an outcropping nearby their camp. Ignis lets out a sigh as he finishes his pastry, his gaze moving to watch Noctis, who seemed just fine not looking at him at all.

“You’ve heard from Lady Lunafreya?”

Noctis gives Ignis a slightly disbelieving look for the question. “Yes.”

“And she fares well?”

“As far as I know.”

“Glad to hear it,” Ignis says, and he means it. If Noctis is a little annoyed by his sincerity, he’s just barely able to hide it.

“We still need to find her,” Noctis says, his tone even.

“I’m aware. I don’t see a reason to change our plans at this point. Finding her should take precedence.”

“I know you want to talk about the engagement. Can we just get to that?”

Ignis sighs. “Noct, love, I didn’t mean…”

“It’s off, okay? There’s no reason to marry her when the Niffs betrayed us.”

“That wasn’t what I was going to say,” Ignis says evenly.

“What then?”

“I’m saying that you should still proceed under the assumption that you both will marry at some juncture.”

Noctis’ gaze turns from deadpan to something short of pained. “You...really? I thought that...I mean, nothing good came out of this, then at least that…”

“I’m not saying we should necessarily give up hope entirely,” Ignis says softly as he reaches out to take Noctis’ hand. “It could very well be that she won’t be of a mind to continue with the wedding. However, I...think it would be best if we still...parted, even perhaps provisionally, once we arrive in Altissia.”

A long silence passses between them. Noctis’ hand is limp in Ignis’, and without saying anything, he eventually slides his hand out of his grip and stands, walking back to camp without a word.

Ignis spends the rest of the night watching the stars. If there are tears in his eyes, there is no one there to see.

 

 

XIII. The Night Before

They make it to Cape Caem, mythril in hand. It’s their last night together before they board the boat to Altissia, and almost without making explicit plans together, Noctis and Ignis both settle themselves on their blanket near the lighthouse, the sky above them glittered with stars that shone back at them in the nearby ocean.

“Feels like there’s more of them every night,” Noctis says, going for something of a conversational tone. Ignis slides his arm around his waist in an effort to pull him closer.

“The further from cities we are, the more plentiful they become,” Ignis says as he rests his head against Noctis’. “I’m...glad that we could see this many, especially tonight.”

Noctis can’t find words to reply to that right away. It’s evident by the look on his face, emotional as he felt, that he was all cried out. “...yeah,” he finally says. “We’re...back to friends tomorrow, huh?”

“I’d like to think we never stopped being friends even when we were making love on a regular basis.”

Noctis bumps Ignis’ shoulder in silent, playful retaliation. “You know what I mean, you dork.”

Ignis lets out a soft laugh that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I do. But my point is...you’ll mean just as much to me, no matter what our relationship becomes. And I’m grateful that, of all people, the empire picked someone that you love.”

Noctis worries his bottom lip with his teeth for a moment before he speaks. “After everything...you really do still think this marriage is going to happen?”

“Most likely, if only to perhaps bring her safely out of Altissia without further altercation,” Ignis says softly. “That is to say, after the Hydraean is safely dealt with.”

“...saving her is more important,” Noctis agrees.

“Indeed,” Ignis says as he kisses the top of Noctis’ head. “But...we still have tonight. Let’s not waste it.”

Noctis nods, and they both take comfort in each other’s bodies, enough times that they both fall asleep together outside. It’s a long night, but as the sun rises to wake Ignis, it’s not long enough, even with the lingering warmth of Noctis’ body in his arms.

 

XIV. The Last Night

So much happens. They lose so much again. And with Noctis in the crystal, Ignis feels more alone in the darkness than he can recall ever feeling. Worst of all, Ignis knows what the astrals intended - that Noctis should give his life for the sake of the sun rising again. The ten years without Noctis are seated with an anxiety that Ignis is unable to purge, even on the day Noctis returns. They make camp, Noctis says his piece, and Prompto and Gladio give Noctis and Ignis their privacy. They sit by the fire that night; the stars are impossible to see.

“What made you put on the ring?” Noctis finally asks after a few moments of lingering silence.

“I had to protect you,” Ignis says somewhat distantly as he adjusts his glasses, his posturing set towards the fire. “I had no idea if it would work, or...what the sacrifice would be. But I would have paid any price.”

“...I know,” Noctis says as he reaches out to put a hand on Ignis’ knee. Looking up, Noctis lets out a sigh. “I wish you could see the stars.”

Ignis lets out a somewhat bitterly amused breath. “That’s been an impossibility for quite a while now.”

“I was hoping to see that one...the chocobo head?”

“Ah, yes, the sacrilegious one,” Ignis teases gently. Noctis laughs.

“You know, I used to use it to navigate sometimes,” Noctis says as he looks back down towards the fire. “Sometimes I’d get lost and I wouldn’t know which way we came from. I could always just see where its beak was pointing and...usually find the way.”

“Trust me, you weren’t fooling any of us with that one, love.”

Noctis lightly shoves at Ignis’ shoulder. “You’re still as feisty as ever.”

“Feisty. That’s a new adjective for me.”

“I like it.”

“Me too,” Ignis smiles. “It...seems somewhat appropriate, after everything.”

“Yeah,” Noctis says as he reaches out to take Ignis’ hand, threading their fingers together. The touch feels strange after so many years apart, but Ignis holds Noctis’ hand back like it’s a lifeline. And maybe it is.

 

XV. Finale

The sun rises.

Ignis wanders the streets of Insomnia alone. With the daemons gone, it’s safe to roam the city for the first time in years. He spends an inordinate time walking the streets, thinking to himself about what they had been through and what they had accomplished - and as ever, he found himself drawn to the Citadel.

He enters the throne room, in full Glaive outfit. His glasses are gone. And as he steps towards the throne, a feeling wells up in his chest, indescribable and tangible.

“Your Majesty,” he says as he gazes at Noctis, seated alive and well upon his throne, his blue eyes shining with affectionate emotion that leaves Ignis feeling breathless. “Shall we go stargazing tonight?”


End file.
